When Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, was in Denver in 1987 for the opening of Ramses II: The Great Pharaoh and His Time, he wasn’t the least bit amused when officials from Denver Museum of Nature & Science took him to dinner at Trail Dust steak house and staffers there “welcomed” him by snipping off his necktie.

Sure, Trail Dust had a no-neckties tradition, but still …

Hawass is back in Denver, this time for the opening of Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs and at last Friday night’s preview gala, Flappers and Pharaohs, Ramses curator Barbara Stone fixed the necktie debacle by giving him a new one.

The presentation took place at the conclusion of remarks that Hawass delivered to the 550 who had gathered in the Denver Art Museum’s Hamilton Building for music, refreshments and a first look at the 51-piece exhibit that is expected to draw 750,000 visitors between now and its closing date of Jan. 9, 2011.

“The mystery of King Tut will never end,” Hawass said, “and what you’re seeing tonight is the dessert to the real meal you will only see if you come to Egypt.” Read more…

Study after study has shown that when it comes to charitable fundraisers, Denver has more per capita than any comparably sized city in the nation. Joanne Davidson has been covering them for The Denver Post since 1985, coming here from her native California where she'd spent the previous seven years as San Francisco bureau chief for U.S. News & World Report magazine.